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The Doctor Behind
the Camera
I'm Dr. Benjamin Schmidt — a board-certified gastroenterologist practicing in St. Louis, Missouri. But if you found me here, you probably know me as Doc Schmidt: the GI doctor who makes videos about colonoscopies, gut health, medical misinformation and more. Since 2020, I've gained over 1.4 million followers across social media — it's been a wild ride.
The origin story
In October 2020, I had a week off from my GI fellowship at the height of a COVID surge and nothing but time, a camera, and a lot of opinions about the state of health information on the internet. What started as silly TikTok skits during a COVID lockdown turned into something I never expected — a community of patients, doctors, nurses, and curious people who actually wanted to talk about medicine in an honest, human way.
I kept making videos because the response told me something important: people are looking for a doctor they can actually understand (and understands them). Not a talking head reading off a teleprompter. Not a wellness influencer pushing supplements. A real doctor, telling the truth, with a little humor thrown in.
What I believe
Healthcare isn't broken because of bad doctors or bad patients. It's broken because we stopped really talking to each other. So much of the confusion, frustration, and fear inside the healthcare system comes down to simple miscommunication — between patients and doctors, between specialists, between the exam room and the waiting room.
I use comedy to bridge that gap. Not because medicine is a joke, but because laughter is one of the fastest ways to lower someone's guard and open their mind. Doctors are just people — we burn out, we have bad days, we laugh, we cry. And patients aren't all the same — the right approach for one person can be completely wrong for another. Medicine lives in the shades of gray.
My goal is to make patients feel comfortable enough to show up, speak up, and push back when something doesn't add up — and to remind doctors that understanding their patient is part of the treatment.
Outside the hospital
When I'm not doing endoscopies or making videos, I try to stay active with racquetball and ultimate frisbee. I love exploring new parks and playgrounds with my wife and kids, or settling in for a new movie or TV show. And if you've watched enough of my videos, you may have already met my crested gecko, Tyrone — a frequent background cameo and the closest thing the Doc Schmidt channel has to a mascot.
The credentials
MD, University of Missouri, Columbia
GI Fellowship, Saint Louis University Hospital
Board-certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Practicing at Esse Health, St. Louis Gastroenterology Consultants, since 2023
